[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_outsiders_1983_movie_poster.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The original teenage rebel story.]]
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->"''Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.''"
--> -- '''Johnny Cade'''

''The Outsiders'' is a {{Coming of Age|Story}} novel from [[TheSixties 1967]]. It was written by S. E. Hinton, who was sixteen years old at the time. The story is narrated by the youngest member of a TroubledButCute greaser group of TrueCompanions in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis lives with his brothers Darrel and Sodapop. Darrel, who everyone calls "Darry", is the leader of a gang of boys, all in various degrees of poverty and ParentalAbandonment: Steve Randle, Sodapop's best friend; the nonstop joker Two-Bit; Dallas Winston, who served his first jail sentence when he was ten; and Johnny Cade, a quiet, sweet kid from an abusive home whom everybody protects like a puppy.

The Greasers' rivals are the Socs (short for "Socials"; pronounced "Soashes"), rich "white trash with Mustangs and madras." Getting jumped and defending himself is a fact of life for Ponyboy. The trouble really starts, however, when Johnny and Ponyboy pick up two girls from the Socs' side of the tracks (Cherry Valance and Marcia) at the movies. Cherry's boyfriend, Bob, and his friends come after them later in a nearby park, which leads to an incident that has a profound impact on the Greasers.

''The Outsiders'' was followed by several sequels, of which ''Literature/RumbleFish'' is the best known, and, of course, a rather faithful 1983 [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] in which Hinton herself was directly involved, directed by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and featuring a cast including Creator/CThomasHowell, Creator/MattDillon, Creator/RalphMacchio, Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/RobLowe, Creator/DianeLane, Creator/EmilioEstevez, Creator/TomCruise, and Creator/LeifGarrett.

The film got its own sequel in 1990, which also served as the pilot episode to a short-lived, little known [[LiveActionTV TV series]]. A musical adaptation premiered on Broadway in April of 2024.

Not to be confused with ''ComicBook/{{The Outsiders|DCComics}}'', a superhero team in Franchise/TheDCU, or the [[ProfessionalWrestling tag team]] of Wrestling/KevinNash and Wrestling/ScottHall, or the '60s band that did "Time Won't Let Me". Also not to be confused with ''Literature/TheStranger'', whose title is often translated as ''The Outsider''. ''Very'' different from Creator/HPLovecraft's short story ''Literature/{{The Outsider|1926}}'', or Creator/StephenKing's novel also called ''Literature/{{The Outsider|2018}}''.

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!!Tropes include:

* TheSixties: The book was first written in 1964, published in 1967, and the book and film was done as a period piece set in 1965. Despite being set in the 1960s, it captures none of the Flower child movement, civil unrest, and general upheaval of the later '60s. The setting and characters seemed much more from the TheFifties or earlier '60s, with the exception that there are a couple mentions of Music/TheBeatles. But this is very accurate since many more rural areas of the country like Oklahoma didn't experience the changes of the 1960s as quickly.
* AbusiveParents:
** Both of Johnny's. They couldn't care less if he runs away from home, which he does a lot.
** Steve's father is implied to be at least verbally abusive, and kicks him out of the house on a regular basis.
* ActorAllusion: Matt Dillon's Dally is [[spoiler:shot and killed by police after pointing an unloaded gun]] at them, much like what also happened to his character in ''Over the Edge''.
* AerithAndBob: Inverted with brothers Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darrel. The difference in names helps to set Darrel apart from his brothers. His {{promotion to parent}} also made him much more serious than the younger two.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Aside from her [[{{Jerkass}} boyfriend]], Cherry has also stated that she better not see Dallas again or else she might fall in love with him. This trait is downplayed in the film adaptation, however.
* AloofBigBrother: Darry to Ponyboy, whom he constantly criticizes. Pony doesn't fully understand how much his older brother cares about him until they reunite in the hospital after he runs away.
* ArcWords:
** "Stay gold." More specifically "nothing gold can stay", the word-for-word quote from the poem that Ponyboy reads.
** But, also the thing about Greasers being so poor they only got two things.
->What kind of world is it where all I have to be proud of is a reputation for being a hood, and a [[DelinquentHair greasy hair]]? I don't want to be a hood, but even if I don't steal things and mug people and get boozed up, I'm marked lousy. Why should I be proud of it? Why should I even pretend to be proud of it?
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Bob. After he tries to drown Ponyboy, he has a fatal meeting with the business end of Johnny's switchblade.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Johnny may be the quietest, most law-abiding of the Greasers, but push him too far and, [[spoiler: you could get killed.]]
* BigBad: The Socs, the rival gang to the Greasers.
* BigBrotherInstinct: The whole gang towards Johnny, since his family couldn't care less. Also Darry and Sodapop toward Ponyboy, though Darry shows his concern for Ponyboy mostly by reacting harshly when Ponyboy does something stupid.
* BittersweetEnding: Ponyboy lives, reconciles with Darry, and presumably ends up going back to school. The Greasers defeat the Socs at the rumble, [[spoiler:but Johnny and Dally are dead]]. Furthermore, the feud between the Greasers and Socs is still shown to continue regardless.
** On a brighter note, it's likely that the public will have a more positive view of the Greasers following the media coverage of the church rescue and Ponyboy's school project on his traumatic experiences.
* BookEnds: The novel opens with the line "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." At the close, Ponyboy asks his English teacher if it's okay that his theme runs for more than five pages. The book then ends with the same line that it started with, indicating that ''The Outsiders'' is actually Ponyboy's theme for English class.
* BrickJoke: After Johnny stands up to Dally for harassing Cherry and Marcia, Dally decides to go out and blow off some steam. A few minutes later, Tim Sheppard comes into the movies looking for Dally, claiming Dally slashed his tires. After [[spoiler: Johnny kills Bob]], and Johnny and Pony are on the run, when they meet Dally again who was sleeping it off after his fight with Shepperd.
* BridalCarry: Darry carries Ponyboy into their house this way in the movie [[spoiler: after getting home from the hospital from a fire rescue]], all the while commenting on how he's getting too big to be carried.
* CallingTheOldManOut: In the novel, Dally angrily calls out Johnny's mother for being a lousy parent when she comes to the hospital and demands to see Johnny. In the movie, it's Two-Bit who reads her the riot act.
* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: The movie went crazy with this and probably explains why the novel remains a favorite of female readers to this day. Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, and Ralph Macchio were all heartthrobs at various points and they are all here in their glistening prime.
* CaughtComingHomeLate: Darry scolds Ponyboy for coming home three hours past curfew. When Sodapop tries to stick up for Ponyboy, it leads to an argument between all three brothers, ending with Darry slapping Ponyboy hard. That leads to Ponyboy running away with Johnny.
* ChekhovsGun: A literal version in Dally's ''unloaded'' gun.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Ponyboy, to a degree. Two-Bit is also described as "scatterbrained."
* CoolCar: Dally's car in the movie.
* CreatorCameo: In the movie, S.E. Hinton portrays the nurse that Dally threatens with a knife in the hospital.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Johnny killed Bob, the same kid who, with other Socs, badly beat him to a pulp.]]
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: According to Ponyboy, his parents were pretty great people, especially when compared to those of the other Greasers. This is part of the reason why Darry is having difficulty having to be the parental figure to his brothers.
* {{Delinquents}}: The Socs and the Hoods. Filthy rich and poor as rats, respectively. The Greasers also have this reputation, although it's mostly only Dallas who lives up to it.
** And isn't that curious? It's stated in the novel that while Dally may not like haircuts, he doesn't like the Greaser-signature hair oil either.
->He was tougher than the rest of us - tougher, colder, meaner. The shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood wasn't present in Dally. He was as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shepard's gang.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: After Johnny dies in the hospital, Dallas loses it and robs a nearby store. After the cops catch up to him, he [[SuicideByCop is killed while pointing an unloaded gun at them]].]]
* DisappearedDad: Two-Bit's father left the family when he was little.
* DontSplitUsUp: This was the primary concern for Darry, who feared that if he was deemed an unfit guardian for his brothers, they would be taken away and put in foster care.
* DramaticSpineInjury: [[spoiler:Johnny]]'s back is broken by a falling piece of timber as [[spoiler:he rescues the kids from the burning church]]. It's specifically stated that he'll be paralyzed for life if he survives the injury...[[spoiler:and he doesn't]].
* DrunkRolling: Dallas wears a ring that he obtained by rolling a drunk senior.
* DyeOrDie: Johnny makes Ponyboy cut and bleach his hair to change his appearance in the event that descriptions of both boys had been printed in the newspapers. Understandably, Ponyboy isn't hip to the idea.
* DysfunctionJunction: Almost all the Greasers fit here. Ponyboy and his brothers lost their parents in a car accident. Steve has an abusive father. Both of Johnny's parents are abusive and don't care about him. Dallas has a growing criminal record which started when he was ten and used to run with gangs in New York. Two-Bit's father walked out on the family, but his mother loves him and takes care of him.
* MrFanservice: Pretty much everyone in the film adaptation.
* FascinatingEyebrow: Most notably Two-Bit.
* FieryRedhead: Cherry.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Almost entirely faithful to the original novel. Hinton herself was actually the location scout; she even took out all of the non-dialogue parts of the novel to create the movie's script.
* FinalBattle: The rumble. We don't see much of it since Ponyboy passes out mid-fight.
* {{Foil}}:
** Dallas for Johnny. Dallas is an obnoxious delinquent, while Johnny is the quietest and kindest of the Greasers.
** Pretty much everyone's parents are this for Darry. He got a PromotionToParent and, yet, even [[spoiler:Bob's parents (the leader of the Socs)]] didn't have an A-plus parenting. The only exceptions are the Curtis brothers' parents (who are dead and, thus, probably don't count anyway) and Two-Bit's mother.
** Steve is this for Sodapop in some regards. Though this doesn't negatively impact their friendship.
->I thought of Soda and Steve. What if one of them saw the other killed? Would that make them stop fighting? No, I thought, maybe it would make Soda stop, but not Steve. He'd go on hating and fighting. Maybe that was what Bob would have done if it had been Randy instead of him.
* AFriendInNeed: The Greasers ultimately feel this way about each other.
* FriendlyTickleTorture: Darry and Sodapop's method of waking Ponyboy in the mornings.
* GangOfHats:
** Socs and Greasers.
** The Greasers aren't so much a gang as a social class. Ponyboy says himself that they're mostly groups of friends who stick together. The same could be argued for the Socs, though some of them are said to belong to social clubs.
* GoshDangItToHeck: The lack of cursing generally isn't ''that'' conspicuous, but in the beginning of the book, when one of the Socs mugging Ponyboy, he says, "For Pete's sake!" This is justified in that [[spoiler:Ponyboy is writing the book as a paper for school, and probably wouldn't be too keen on dropping f-bombs in something his teacher would be grading him on]].
** A particularly funny one is when Two-Bits calls Ponyboy a ''son of a gun''.
* GreaseMonkey: Steve. He is said to be able to fix any car.
* GreaserDelinquents: The main protagonists of the book and movie.
* HaveAGayOldTime: The word "Ponyboy" nowadays can be used as a slang term for a man who is well endowed.
* HeroicFireRescue: It earns the main characters the respect of the town and a front page article. Sadly, [[spoiler:Johnny eventually dies from the injuries sustained during the rescue.]]
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Ponyboy, who collapses after Johnny's death and Dallas's {{suicide by cop}}. He spends the next few weeks either asleep or delirious.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Sodapop and Steve have been best friends since childhood and remain very close.
* IronicEcho: When Ponyboy comes back from the drive-in late, Darrel yells at him for saying that he didn't mean to. On the exact same page, after he hits Ponyboy, who runs away, he says, "I didn't mean to!"
* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: The entire novel was written in-universe by Ponyboy as a project for school.
* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms: In the movie, Dallas has a civilian S&W Model 10, which he gives to Ponyboy and Johnny, and a Model 39. In 1966, it would be harder to get the latter than, say, 1911.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Bob wears a set of rings on his hand for punching, similar to brass knuckles.
* InSeriesNickname: Johnnycake. Which only serves to make Johnny sound even sweeter.
* JacobAndEsau: Among the Curtis brothers, dark-haired Darry is said to take after their father and blond Sodapop after their mother, while Ponyboy doesn't particularly take after either parent.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the Socs are rich white trash, with the exception of Cherry and Randy, and possibly Marcia.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Dallas may be a delinquent, but he's always there for the gang.
** And Darry, who acts harsh towards Ponyboy, but he just wants him to succeed in life and not make the same mistakes he made.
* JumpScare: PlayedForLaughs when someone grabs Johnny and Ponyboy in the drive-in theater, saying "Greasers, you've had it." It's just Two-Bit, imitating a menacing Soc.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Bob is stabbed by Johnny, the boy he beat up some time before the start of the story.]]
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Johnny, always the gang's pet and the only thing Dallas ever loved.]]
* LargeHam: Dallas is this at times in the movie, mainly with [[spoiler: "Let's do it for Johnny!"]], which is also kinda Narm-y.
* LonelyRichKid: All of the Socs, especially Cherry.
* LovableRogue: Dallas, again.
* MeaningfulName: The author literally spells it out when innocent [[spoiler: martyr]] Johnny signs a message with his initials.
* MiddleChildSyndrome: Averted with Sodapop. However, another problem springs forth when he is constantly the mediator between Darry and Ponyboy's arguments.
* MoralityPet: Johnny for Dallas, which [[spoiler:Dallas can't stand and is why he goes and gets himself killed when Johnny dies]].
* MoustacheDePlume: S. E. Hinton, thinking no one would read a gang novel by a woman named Susan.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** Darry, when he hit Ponyboy, causing the latter to run away.
** Johnny when [[spoiler: he's forced to kill Bob.]] And later on when he is in the hospital for his burns. The latter of which because, early in the movie Johnny was suicidal.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter: The author will often say that "he cussed him out" or "cursed under his breath", or something else to that effect.
* NotSoStoic:
** Dallas doesn't seem to care about anything or anyone, and doesn't express much emotion besides anger until [[spoiler: Johnny dies.]]
** Darry, who Ponyboy says never shows his emotions, is full-on crying when he and Sodapop reunite with Ponyboy at the hospital.
* PapaWolf: Darry towards Ponyboy, since his PromotionToParent forces him to act more like a father than a brother.
* PostClimaxConfrontation: [[spoiler: Dallas' SuicideByCop, which occurs after the big rumble between the Greasers and the Socs.]]
* PrettyBoy: Sodapop in the novel. Everyone in the movie.
* PrisonChangesPeople: It's implied that this happened to Dallas long before the story began. He later tries to convince his still innocent MoralityPet Johnny not to confess to the murder he committed in self-defense because of it.
-->'''Dallas:''' You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Oh, blast it, Johnny, you get hardened in jail. I don't want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me..."
* PromotionToParent: Big brother Darry takes on a parental role to Ponyboy and Sodapop after their parents die.
* RebelliousSpirit: All of them, really, but special mention goes to Dallas, who is explicitly said to go around actively trying to break laws.
* RightBehindMe: Darry to Steve.
-->'''Steve:''' So where is Soda and Super-Dope (Darry) anyhow?\\
'''Darry: [just walking in]''' Superwhat?!
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The Socs.
* ShirtlessScene:
** Dallas in the film; a nurse (played by Hinton herself) even comments he should be wearing a hospital gown, but he casually responds, "I threw it away."
** Not to mention a gratuitous {{fanservice}} moment of Sodapop getting out of the shower and just barely getting a ModestyTowel on.
* ShoutOut: The Creator/RobertFrost poem "[[Literature/NewHampshire Nothing Gold Can Stay]]", read out loud by Ponyboy, inspires the ArcWords.]
* ShownTheirWork: S. E. Hinton interviewed some Greasers in her school in order to depict their lifestyle as accurately as possible in the novel.
* SinisterSwitchblade: Switchblades are exceedingly common weapons among Socs and greasers alike. Two-bit takes a great deal of pride in his jet-black model. After he got jumped by a gang of Socs, Johnny carries a six-inch blade, which he uses to [[spoiler: [[KarmicDeath kill Bob, who was part of the same gang of Socs who had attacked him before.]]]]
* SinisterSuffocation: Ponyboy and Johnny get attacked by a group of Socs, who try to drown Ponyboy in a fountain. [[spoiler:Johnny rescues Ponyboy when he pulls out his switchblade and kills Bob, causing the rest of the Socs to scatter.]]
* SlobsVersusSnobs: The Greasers rivalry with the Socs.
* StressVomit: Ponyboy throws up after Johnny [[spoiler: kills Bob.]]
* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:Dallas invokes this after Johnny's death.]]
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The church rescue, where Ponyboy and Johnny go in to save a group of kids before the church burns completely to the ground. [[spoiler: It ends with Johnny sustaining a injury that would ultimately cost him his life. Even worse, before he died, Johnny said that he wouldn't have been able to walk again if he had survived.]]
* TeamPowerWalk: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHEcDSYtiA#t=0m35s The Socs do one]] prior to the final showdown.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Probably all the boys would have needed one, especially Johnny.
* TooYoungToDieLamentation: Before Johnny dies, he says that, although he used to talk about killing himself, he now realizes that sixteen isn't old enough to do all the things he wanted to do.
* TragicDropout: Darry gets a menial job in order to take care of his younger siblings after their parents die instead of going on to college like he had dreamed. Subverted with Sodapop since he didn't do that well in school and prefers his job at the gas station.
* TroubledButCute: The entire main cast, but especially Johnny.
* TroubledTeen: The book and its sequels focus on teenage "greasers," each with a number of issues such as parental abandonment/abuse, and all are looked down by their community for being in the lower socioeconomic bracket. Dallas is the most troubled, it was said in the book he started being jailed for criminal behavior at ''ten years old''.
* TrueCompanions: The Greasers towards each other, since they are all they really have.
* TheUnfavourite: Ponyboy feels that older brother Darry cares only for Sodapop and that he is only another mouth to feed. However, he is proven wrong - Darry's strict because is his way to push Ponyboy to a better tomorrow.
-->'''Darry:''' You're not going to drop out. Listen, with your brains and grades you could get a scholarship, and we could put you through college.
->Darry has never really gotten over not going to college.
->Darry didn't deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty [...] But we just didn't have the money for him to go to college, even with the athletic scholarship he won. And now he didn't have time between jobs to even think about college.
-->'''Sodapop:''' He could have stuck you in a home somewhere and worked his way through college. Ponyboy, I'm telling you the truth. I dropped out because I'm dumb. I really did try in school, but you saw my grades. Look, I'm happy working in a gas station with cars. You'd never be happy doing something like that.
** Even Ponyboy himself admits it once before he and Darry reach an understanding.
-->'''Ponyboy:''' That's why he's better than the rest of us. He's going somewhere. And I was going to be like him. I wasn't going to live in a lousy neighborhood all my life.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Socs maintain a good reputation and get away with almost anything due to being wealthy.
* WatchingTheSunset: Both Cherry and Ponyboy do. He also watches a sunrise with Johnny, which was a stepping stone for him to appreciate life [[spoiler: before the fire ruined that for him.]]
* WeaponForIntimidation: Dally's revolver. It's not actually loaded, and he states that he uses it to scare people and that's all. This comes back to him when [[spoiler:he raises the unloaded gun at the police after Johnny dies to get a SuicideByCop.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Cherry possibly falling in love with Dally is mentioned a total of once and never again.
** Cherry's friend Marcia. She seems like she's going to be an important character, but, at the end of the day, she appears only in one scene. It seems her only role in the story was to give some diversity to the Soc's characterization.
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Again, Ponyboy and Sodapop are their actual names. Cherry remarks how "original" they are.
** It may even apply to Cherry herself since 'Cherry' is a nickname derived from Sherri - her real name.
* WouldHitAGirl: Dallas tells Ponyboy and Johnny that some of the Greasers wanted to jump Cherry for having dated Bob.
* WrongSideOfTheTracks: Where the Greasers live.
->Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn. Sixteen years on the streets and you see a lot. But all the wrong sights, not the sights you want to see.
* YourDoorWasOpen: Justified, as at least two members of the gang frequently need a place to stay. When one character worries about the house being robbed, Darrel states that he would rather risk robbery than have one of the gang members go crazy and do something that earned them serious jail time. Besides, they have nothing to steal.
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